Lizard Guide

food
Foragingand
feastingon
the Lizard
Justin Whitehouse; National Trust Head Ranger looks at
what food can be gathered and eaten on The Lizard.
As apassionate environmentalist
working for one of the leading
conservation organisations in Europe,
my interest in foraging for wild food
may seem contradictory.
From aconservation point of view, so long
as the countryside isn’t being pillaged of
plants, animals and fungi for commercial
gain, then Ican’t really see the problem in
collecting nature’s bounty for personal use. If
it brings people closer to nature, making them
appreciate what unspoilt and well managed
countryside can offer, then foraging can
only help our conservation goals. Wild food
is also free, healthy, tasty and enormously
satisfying to collect.
Springtime brings awonderful bounty
of edible wild plants to the hedgerows,
woodlands and cliffs around the Lizard.
Succulent young herbs, shoots, flowers and
leaves abound, with some of the commonest
and unwelcome ‘weeds’ being the most
sought after. Nettles, Alexanders, chickweed
and fat hen, when collected young and fresh,
are some of the most delicious greens
growing along our verges and more than
likely in your back garden, and certainly taste
better than their supermarket equivalents.
Other plants, such as Three Cornered Leek,
is an extremely common white bluebell like
flower and adelicious substitute for chives,
leeks and onion dominating verges during
early spring,are very invasive and unwelcome
weeds. From aconservation point of view,
take asmuch as you like!
Awalk through many Lizard woods in spring
can often bring the heady and unmistakable
smell of Wild garlic or Ransomes. Lightly
steamed, ransomes make adelicious
substitute for garlicky spinach.
The coast and cliffs bring awhole new
bounty of produce. Aside from shellfish
foraged from the shore at low tide (try
mussels or winkles steamed over ransomes),
most seaweed is edible and extremely
healthy. Along the rocky cliffs, look out for
sea beet (the precursor of all domesticated
beets and in my opinion the tastiest) and rock
samphire with aflavour curiously reminiscent
of Bombay mix.
Late summer and autumn offers the
best time for fruit, nuts and of course
fungi. Whilst everyone has no doubt picked
brambles from the hedgerows, many other
hedgerow fruits are edible and tasty. Sloes,
hawberries, rosehips and crab apples all
produce delicious preserves and beverages
(try some Sloe gin!), whilst hazlenuts (pesto),
sweet chestnuts (roasted on acampfire) and
even beechnuts (a delicious and morish beer
snack) are easy to recognise and plentiful.
Wild mushrooms understandably fill people
with dread. Whilst there are many species
of delicious wild mushroom growing in the
woods and pasture, amis-identification could
easily land you in hospital or worse!
With all foraging,make sure you refer to
agood guide book or book onto acourse or
guided walk. It’s not just mushrooms which
might land you in intensive care. Some of the
most benign looking plants, with an uncanny
similarity to some of most delicious and
common edible plants, are deadly poisonous.
It’s amazing how similar Cow Parsley and
Alexanders resemble Hemlock and Hemlock
Water Dropwort and how Sorrel can be adead
ringer for Lords and Ladies!
Please also be aware that it is illegal to
uproot plants from the wild and only take
enough for your personal use.
Happy foraging,but please be careful!
Youcan join the National Trust on some
foraging guided walks. In Spring there are a
number of walks planned from Predannack
Wollas and in October fungi walks are planned
for Tremayne woods. Last year’s walks we
munched on wild water mint, water cress,
pennywort, rock samphire and various other
tasty,and not so tasty,herbs, leaves and
flowers. Occasional stops were rewarded with
other morsels prepared earlier such as Water
Cress Omelette, Ransom pesto, seaweeds
and awee dram of bramble whiskey!
26 www.visitlizardcornwall.co.uk